There are several flavors of self-directed IRA plans.

There was every flavor of low life you could imagine burrowing inside these units.

Off market usually involves wholesaling in some flavor, or another where an investor puts a property under contract and assigns it to another for about a 5-7k profit, or dual closing where the wholesaler is closing on a purchase, and immediately selling it to another investor - the purpose being to make maximum profit without disclosing profit made.Realtors can help you with both options, but primarily the ones listed on MLS.  

You simply have capital deployed, expenses and earnings, and the difference between expenses and earnings is your return on investment.There are two flavors of self-directed IRA plans.Accounts held by a custodian as trustee function much like a brokerage, but with a different business model.

If you want the full flavor of the narragansett debate look at http://narragansettresidentsunite.org/ vs. https://narragansett2100.com/ They have oppossing views on the unrelated person ordinance.

If they fail to pay the Rent, you evict and their purchase agreement is now null and void.If they do not execute their purchase agreement they are in breach of contract and you keep the earnest money.Another flavor of the same thing.Also, on a land contract...  

At the end of the day we all want money to afford the things we want to accomplish and have in life.Given that no matter who you are you only have so much time in the day.You can leverage people to do more in the same amount of time but the time remains the same.I want to flip this around.A great broker will not only be working with investors but doing deals of their own.If the investor has the know how they can get licensed and do it themselves.Some investors are professionals like lawyers,doctors,cpa's and want to invest but have no time.They need a broker to help them with their goals.There is plenty of business out there for everyone and there are many flavors of investors.If I only have so much time in the day I as a broker want to maximize my return.I can sell a 1 million dollar commercial property and use the same time as selling a 50k property but my returns will be way less.

The areas I listed gives a flavor for the type of neighborhood I'm looking at: a solid B type SFR in a nice neighborhood with good schools. 

There are a lot of people, and each area has its own flavor.  

Milwaukee comes in many different flavors and matching up your investment goals with the neighborhood is key.